The episode opens with a flash-forward: Dutch is in nerve cuffs being tortured in Old Town inside the Royale by a mining union official named Regin. A mob yells for blood outside, held back by brawny monks. I found this segment confusing, probably because it went on so long before the show returned to events of the night before. At the Royale, Pree was trying to help Dutch, arguing with Regin, at one point even brandishing a weapon, offering Dutch, “You, me, blaze of glory,” before he was sent outside. I was impressed with Pree all over again, for his courage trying to protect his friend.

How do Michelle Lovretta and her writing team manage to cram so much sci-fi goodness into one episode? Every week I say, “That was my favorite Killjoys episode.” This week with Killjoys Season 2 Episode 6, it’s absolutely true.

I’ll be honest, I can’t say I’ll miss Pawter’s folks even though they went out heroes.

Both teams spent time with their wretched parents, but we quickly realized the elders were being tough attempting to make their kids stronger. Was the time wasted worth it though? Killjoys Season 2 Episode 5 proved there’s always room for forgiveness.

It was Delle Seyah’s turn to resurface this time. Now we know she’s in with Khlyen.

Though both those characters seemed like the villains last season, Killjoys Season 2 Episode 4 continued to blur the lines between the good guys and baddies. Yes, Khlyen has done some terrible things, but I no longer think he is the enemy.

I thought the brother angle was touching, and it helped John and D’av bond a bit more.

After getting D’Avin (Luke Macfarlane) officially sworn back in as a member of the team, the Killjoys take a bounty allowing them entry back into the guaranteed Old Town and search for their missing friends. Their job, to hunt down eight escaped convicts, becomes easier will almost all of them turn up dead by an unusual biological weapon. Discovering their leader has another tank full of the gas with plans to use it, however, presents some problems.

While not quite as fun as the season premiere, “Wild, Wild Westerley” certainly provides its moments such as the running gag concerning the man (Gavin Fox) who momentarily took over the bar in Pree‘s (Thom Allison) absence getting his ass handed to him on three successive occasions by Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), Pawter (Sarah Power), and Pree. While Pree and Pawter decide to stay, Dutch and John (Aaron Ashmore) do get a new travelling companion in Alvis (Morgan Kelly) and an unexpected ally in Turin (Patrick Garrow) who has serious concerns about Level 6 and where the RAC is headed.

Praise the trees, Killjoys is back! Sass, action, spaceships, green s***, all of it! And better than ever. Craving one-liners? Full of ’em. Need shirtless D’Avin? OK, sure! Want Dutch’s wardrobe? I currently covet that red leather duster… (At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a chance to win a set of limited edition Syfy pins!)

Quick recap – Johnny and Dutch, partners, find Johnny’s rogue, brain-fried soldier brother D’Avin, he joins the team, has an ill-advised one-nighter with Dutch. Later, under the influence of his brain frying, he turns into a violent robot and tries to kill her. Dutch is the product of childhood assassin training by Khlyen, deceptively soft-spoken handsome mysterious baddie who calls her Yallah. She may or may not be a daughter of one of the Quad’s ruling families. The three of them work as interplanetary bounty hunters, called Killjoys, serving warrants on bad guys for the mysterious RAC. The Company, which is willing to do all kinds of horrible things to citizens, runs the Quad. Bellus is our KJ’s controller; Pree runs a bar called the Royal; Pawter definitely is a member of a the ruling families, but is now a disowned doctor. D’Avin has a ??-night stand with her too. Alvis is a leader of a religious group called the Scarbacks, self-administered flagellators. Khlyen kidnaps D’Avin, takes him somewhere called Red 17 to turn him into a mysterious Level 6 – Dutch is a level 5 Killjoy, but what’s a Level 6? The Company bombs Old Town, Dutch and Johnny and Pree escape.

Phew! Now it’s five days later. I know it felt like 10 months, but time’s compressed in space. Johnny, Dutch and Pree are tracking D’Avin, and believe they’ve found him on Arkyn, a forbidding, forbidden Quad moon. There’s a scary looking facility built on it, and as they accidentally find out, it’s covered with an impenetrable defense layer that not even Lucy can break through. What’s going on down there? Apparently not mini-golf and s’mores – D’Avin’s having green-slime induced visions as he’s being turned into a mysterious Level 6.

Good ol’ D’avin said it best early in the episode, “Missed you bastards!”

Luckily for us, this is no green-goo induced dream and Killjoys is finally back for another run. I am thrilled we get to spend another season with this incredible cast and crew. I can’t even imagine not getting a third season, so I’m starting the #RenewKilljoys campaign early.

I didn’t see the twists of Killjoys Season 2 Episode 1 coming, which is part of the fun.

[Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2016] I am a huge Killjoys fan. If I’m not their biggest then I’m certainly in the neighbourhood of ‘rabid’. It’s my favorite TV show currently running. I’m actually a little self-conscious about how fanatical I’ve gotten so I’ve been putting off writing this article. But the Killjoys recent appearance at the Calgary Expo has motivated me to actually finish this list and put it on the web.

Here’s the 10 things I love most about Killjoys:

1. Luke MacFarlane / D’Avin

He is my favorite part of the show, hands down. I like D’Avin’s soldier boy thing, I like his story arc, I like his relationship with his team. But if I’m going to be honest, I’m seriously crushing on Luke MacFarlane. Just look at him. Male beauty can be measured in Tatums and Luke weighs in at 1.003, making him hotter than Channing Tatum (after whom the measure is named and who is its standard, a perfect 1.000).

It seems unlikely, I know, but I recently saw Luke at the Calgary Expo and was able to confirm my findings. Unfortunately I only got about 5 seconds of exposure while getting a photo taken, but that’s probably for the best as I would have undoubtedly passed out had it been any longer. I like to imagine getting a chance to talk to Luke properly without me being creepy but then I realize that this imaginary conversation is taking place in one of those paddle-swan-boats and there isn’t really a not-creepy option for me there.

2. Aaron Ashmore / John

Aaron was part of my favorite show of all time, Warehouse 13 so he was part of what drew me to Killjoys. I loved Agent Jinx a lot and let’s leave it at that. I love John too. At the Calgary Expo, I actually got a chance to talk to Aaron Ashmore a bit and he was unbelievably charming and friendly. He answered my questions about Killjoys and also Warehouse 13 (Jinx wasn’t actually in secret love with Pete). But since he was an actor I actually cared about, I was completely and ridiculously STARSTRUCK and couldn’t talk for long before I started worrying that I was being awkward and so I bolted. Later I saw him deal with a fan who actually was horrifically awkward and Aaron was so graceful that I realized I needn’t have worried.

Here is a picture of me with those two boys – note how terrified I look:

3. Michelle Lovretta (and the rest of her writing team)

The writing on this was the first thing I noticed, it was visible in the initial scene of Episode One. Aaron Ashmore commented on this same thing in his panel but I had come to the same conclusion. Here’s how you can tell: when you find you actually care about the characters and really want to know what’s going to happen next, that’s usually good writing. There are actors who can make bad writing look good (Patrick Stewart I’m looking at you) but it’s rare. Michelle was at Calgary Expo, she was so good in her panel. I liked what she said about writing strong female characters. She made Dutch tough, not angry. Many strong characters (not just female) are angry all the time in order to show they’re tough and truly tough people are not like that. I wish I could have interviewed her, I’d loved to have gotten more of her insights on the writing process. At least I got her autograph.

4. Dutch

Hannah John-Kamen was not at the Calgary expo but I love her character Dutch. She’s so charismatic and such a badass. I love the relationships she has with literally every other character she interacts with. I like Dutch and John, Dutch and D’Avin and most especially Dutch and Khlyen.

5. Khlyen

I really like this character. He’s a magnificent antagonist and mentor at the same time and that’s not easy to pull off. Plus he just has this mystery to him. Whenever Khlyen is involved, I know it’s going to be good. I can’t wait to see what happens with him.

6. Alvis and the Scarbacks

Normally I don’t go in for religious characters but there’s something really wonderful about Morgan Kelly and religious revolutionary. There’s something really fresh about how religion is portrayed on Killjoys, not like a theocracy in its death throes or a fully justified belief in alien gods but instead something that’s either a harmless annoyance (to non-believers) or something that arguably does some good to those who subscribe to it.

7. Lucy

It’s pretty common for a Science Fiction show to have an AI, I’ve noticed. Dark Matter did the same thing. But I find myself liking Lucy a lot. Mostly because she’s not really trying to become human. I like her relationship with John. She doesn’t have to become anything she’s not – she’s already interesting. I’ve been promised that we’ll see an even better side of her next season.

8. Pree

Could that bartender BE any more fabulous?

9. The Catchphrase

The Warrant Is All. Actually the entire RAC culture seems about right for an organization of that size (red 17 notwithstanding). The way people talk about it, the politics, the way people act within it, it all feels genuine.

10. The Soundtrack

I’m not acoustically inclined but I noticed the music in Killjoys. I’m not sure what it is, but every song connected with that show is a song I like to listen to. Some of my favorites are Hot As Sun – Mother I’m Alive, Caveboy – Home is Where, and July Talk – I’ve Rationed Well.

I hope Killjoys come back to Calgary. Or better yet, Lethbridge. That would be amazing, I would cry real tears of joy. If you haven’t yet seen the show, it’s available on Crave TV. I highly recommend it.

Killjoys, the latest show from SYFY, arrives in the UK on Monday 25th January and we take a look to see if it is a success for the channel and us wonderful geeks.

Killjoys follows a trio of hard-living but fun-loving bounty hunters – Dutch, John, and D’avin– taking on interplanetary missions, chasing and capturing deadly criminals throughout a distant system named the Quad. They have sworn amongst themselves to remain neutral during a bloody, multi-planetary class war that threatens to destroy the Quad.

For a while the SYFY channel went a little off track with its programming but these days it seems to hitting its stride with shows like Dark Matter, The Expanse and now Killjoys.

Killjoys stars Hannah John-Kamen as Dutch / Yalena, Aaron Ashmore as John Jaqobis, Luke Macfarlane as D’avin Jaqobis. The show is firmly set in scifi territory with its premise of bounty hunters working in the fringe area of space called the Quad. Within the first episode we find out about the universe the characters inhabit and it is a harsh one. Our team start off as a crew of two until something happens and they end up bringing John’s brother into the fold.

Throughout the episode we learn about the three crew members especially the team leader Dutch played by the lovely Hannah John-Kamen. Dutch has a hidden past that will have an impact on the show long term with quite a few mysteries to be solved. John seems to have the least developed back story so far but I am guessing that will change over time while his brother D’avin seems to have been involved in a violent past that he does not want to talk about.

The three leads seem to be very comfortable in their roles and looks like the chemistry between will only grow.

We also get to meet some supporting characters that help with the world building of this first episode. The universe has a very similar feel to the Firefly universe which is not a bad thing at all. The special effects are solid and the humour is slightly stiff so far but am sure it will get better as the show grows.

Overall Killjoys is a show that will be great geeky viewing and fingers crossed for at least 5 seasons on this one.

You, Me and the Apocalypse

The premise in about 100 words:

The world is coming to an end in 34 days, thanks to an 8-mile comet hurtling toward Earth. Life as we know it is counting down to extinction, save a hodgepodge of unlikely individuals trapped safely in a bunker miles beneath the Earth’s surface. That group includes Jamie (Mathew Baynton), a cute but unassuming banker with a twin brother who runs a cyber terrorist organization; Sister Celine (Gaia Scodellaro), a sweet nun who recently took a post under Father Jude Sutton (Rob Lowe) in the Devil’s Advocate office; and Rhonda McNeil (Jenna Fisher), a librarian who took the rap for her son’s hacking of the National Security Agency. Premieres Jan. 28 on NBC.

Religious themes:

Um … the apocalypse! And with it, all of the philosophical questions The End forces us to confront: What is the meaning of life? Is there life after death? Is God watching? Beyond that, though, the show’s most significant religious explorations come from Sister Celine and Father Jude, who are tasked with investigating the biblical prophecies surrounding the end times, including the identities of false messiahs and perhaps an antichrist. Father Jude is an unlikely priest — he drinks and swears and seems to want to have a lot of sex before the world ends — but he seems to have genuine faith somewhere under all that smarm.

Mercy Street

The premise in about 100 words:

Two nurses care for wounded soldiers in Mansion House, a luxury hotel in Alexandria, Va., that has been turned into a hospital at the start of the Civil War. Mary (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a New England abolitionist, and Emma (Hannah James), the daughter of the Confederate hotel owner, butt heads as they try to balance their medical duties with their dueling allegiances. Both women are further troubled as they try to make their way through a man’s world, headed by Dr. Byron Hale (Broadway’s Norbert Leo Butz). A moving subplot features Samuel Diggs (McKinley Belcher), a free black man who knows medicine but needs to keep that secret. Premiered Jan. 17 on PBS.

Religious themes:

The key to the show is found in the title: mercy. As one character explains in the first episode, all who arrive at Mansion House receive treatment. No questions asked. The location of Mansion House, in a Union-occupied Southern town, only highlights, if at times strains, the grace the characters offer and experience. Given that this is a Civil War-period drama, biblical allusions and religious sensibilities are often on display. One of the more interesting characters is Chaplain Hopkins (Luke Macfarlane), who, in spite of the mysteries he hides, reminds workers and patients that God does not see uniforms.